The nephew of notorious a "Goodfellas" mobster was sentenced to 14 years behind bars Wednesday for a loan-sharking scheme that spanned nearly 20 years, the New York Post reported.
Speaking directly to Ronald Giallanzo in a Brooklyn federal court, Chief Judge Dora Irizarry noted how he ordered to have people beaten with pipes as if it were a scene from a movie.
"But this isn't a movie," she said to the nephew of Bonanno capo Vincent Asaro who is believed to be behind the Lufthansa air cargo heist, a scene memorably recreated in "Goodfellas."
According to prosecutors, Giallanzo ran a loan-sharking operation that spanned from 1998 to 2017, which saw him loan millions of dollars in cash at exorbitant weekly interest rates.
He reportedly instructed a crew of Bonanno family soldiers and associates too use violence to collect debts owed.
The scheme reportedly earned the 49-year-old about $3 million in profits, which he used to purchase a five-bedroom, five- bathroom Howard Beach mansion, the Queens Daily Eagle noted.
Giallanzo was arrested in March 2017 on charges of racketeering, kidnapping, robbery, attempted murder and other counts, the New York Post said.
He pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy and confessed to having extorted five different people.
"I want to take this opportunity to apologize to those directly affected and indirectly affected," said Giallanzo on Wednesday, according to the New York Daily News. "No excuse for my behavior — I can blame no one but myself for being here today."
As part of his sentencing, Giallanzo was ordered to pay $1.25 million in forfeiture and sell his mansion in Howard Beach. He will also have to pay $268,000 in restitution to his victims.
"Today's sentence punishes a violent mobster for running a massive loan-sharking operation that victimized a community and earned him millions in illicit profits," said U.S Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Richard P. Donoghue, according to the Queens Daily Eagle.
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